Drive-Through Service Spreading To New Industries Consumer Demand For Speed, Convenience Fuels Growth Of Drive-Up Windows

Salim Saah, a baker for Giant Food, had a craving for his favorite hazelnut latte one morning last week, but he wanted to avoid the hassle of finding a parking place, getting out of his car and battling the morning coffee crowds. Besides, it was really cold outside.

Saah found a way to treat himself to his coffee confection and stay warm and comfy - by easing into Starbucks’ new drive-through location in Gaithersburg, Md., one in a growing number of twists on the drive-through-window concept that has long been popular in banking and fast food.

“It’s great, it’s so convenient,” Saah said, waiting in his car for his latte. “You can listen to your radio, and when it’s cold outside like this, you don’t have get out of your car.”

Starbucks is joining drugstores, convenience stores, dry cleaners, ice cream parlors and other retailers hoping to gain a competitive edge by offering drive-through service. They say it’s a natural response to the American consumer’s constantly increasing demands for speed and convenience.

But not all drive-through concepts are so prosaic. Sam & Harry’s, a restaurant chain, opened an outlet in Tysons Corner, Va., last month with a drive-through window selling cigars and, in the summer, picnic baskets for outdoor concerts. Host Marriott Corp. opened its first drive-through concession stand along the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. Thirsty but don’t need the bathroom? Keep right on truckin’.

“Everyone’s trying to sell everything to people in their cars,” said Stan Sheetz, president of the Pennsylvania-based Sheetz convenience store chain, which is testing drive-through service at four of its 200 locations.

Farm Stores, a Miami-based chain of convenience stores that are exclusively drive-through, is planning an “aggressive” expansion. And drugstore chains including Rite Aid, CVS and Eckerd are poised to begin opening dozens of drive-through locations later this year.

“Customers demand convenience, and it’s the most highly convenient retailers that are going to win,” said Fred McGrail, a spokesman for Rhode Island-based CVS. “That’s what drive-through is.”

Drive-throughs were popular years ago when suburbs were beginning to develop and the “car culture” was a novelty. But growth stalled when shopping centers and malls began dotting the suburban landscape.

Now, parents with children in the car - especially those in carseats - and women concerned about safety are frequent users of the service.

Some consumers haven’t warmed to the idea, but they’d better get used to it, said Debra Goodman, marketing manager for a dry-cleaning chain that started adding double-lane drive-throughs to its stores in the past year. “The new wave is always to have a drive-through,” she said.